Salon.com Arts & Entertainment | Trial to probe slaying of Notorius B.I.G: "The mystery of who gunned down Notorious B.I.G. -- and why -- has frustrated and fascinated the hip-hop world for eight years. With FBI and police investigations failing to net even a suspect, a swirl of theories implicated corrupt cops, gang hits, bicoastal beefs -- or all three at once. None have been provable, so far.

The case finally is in court, as a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the New York rapper's family. On Tuesday, jury selection began. The panel is expected to at least get a peek inside the so-called murder book showing whom the Los Angeles Police Department interviewed and which leads were followed.

Christopher Wallace was killed early March 9, 1997, on a Los Angeles boulevard after someone in a dark sedan fired seven shots into his sport utility vehicle while both cars were stopped at a light. Wallace was heading to a hotel following an awards show after-party.

The suit claims LAPD officials covered up a former officer's involvement in the slaying and ignored a systemic problem of potentially dangerous moonlighting. The family claims a number of off-duty officers associated with gang members while providing security for Death Row Records, home of Wallace's West Coast rival, Tupac Shakur."

(Via Salon.)